Neekoo Philanthropic Society was formed back in April of this year when a group of like-minded friends, who are known for putting great parties, got together to combine their social skills with a desire to make an impact on the future of young Iranians. With slightly over a month to get organized, the group combined forces to create, promote and launch not only the Neekoo concept but also their first big event. The big launch event took place on June 15th at the Urban Winery where the group was able to bring fellow Iranian and non-Iranian friends together for a night of celebration where they promoted Persian culture with great wine, food, art work and music. Combined with Silent Auction, the event had over 120 attendees and was able to raise $15,000 with additional donations amounting to approximately $15,000. Further donations are still coming. This is a great result given the short time frame within which the group turned a great idea into reality.

But the work of Neekoo goes way beyond organizing high end events and bring together like-minded individuals from Vancouver. The main catalyst for these events is to raise funds and awareness regarding the scholarships that are provided through the Canadian Iranian Foundations. Neekoo has proudly partnered with CIF to raise funds to support their established scholarship program. These programs have been providing financial assistance to well deserving young students entering university who could use the support. The members of Neekoo have all gone through the education system in BC and are well aware of the benefits of higher education in creating successful professionals and community contributors for today and well into the future.

Neekoo has just begun. The group has been able to build the awareness it needed to get off the ground. Now new plans are in place to build on the initiative with development of mentorship programs to support the scholarships as well as more events aimed at starting a movement amongst the Persian community to come together. They feel strongly that their role is to inspire the youth by being role models in giving back and helping them to succeed. The Neekoo group consists of individuals from varied backgrounds including healthcare, wine industry, HR, UBC graduates, communication specialist, IT, Hospitality, artists and loving mothers. Their ultimate hope is that the scholarship recipients will in time come back and do the same for the next generation.

Northshore News

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